ITPEC IP April 2025 Question 40

Authentication with a fingerprint — it checks a physical feature of the person, which is what biometrics means.

Authentication confirms identity with one or more of three kinds of factor:

• •Knowledge: something the user knows, such as a password or PIN
• •Possession: something the user has, such as an ID card, a token or a certificate on a device
• •Inherence (biometrics): something the user is: fingerprint, face, iris, vein pattern, voice, or behaviour such as a signature

A fingerprint is a physical feature, so its authentication is biometric.

Answer (a)

Why not others:

• •(b) — a digital certificate is data issued by a certificate authority and installed on a device; proving you hold it is a possession factor
• •(c) — a personal ID card is something the user carries, a possession factor
• •(d) — a one-time password is generated by a token or app, or sent to a phone the user holds; it proves knowledge of a code from a possession, not a body feature

Key rule: Biometrics cannot be forgotten or lent, but they cannot be changed if leaked either, and matching tolerates small differences, trading false rejections against false acceptances.

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